BLOCK  PRINTS  FROM  INDIA 
FOR  TEXTILES 


by 

Albert  Buell  Lewis 

Assistant  Curator  of  Melanesian  Ethnology 

24  Plates 


Anthropology  Design  Series  No.  i 


FIELD  MUSEUM  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY 

Chicago 
1924 


FIELD   MUSEUM   OF   NATURAL   HISTORY. 


MTHROPOLOGY,    DESIGN    SERIES   NO.    1,    PL. 


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BORDER  DESIGN  ON  THE  END  OF  A  WOMAN'S  CLOTH   (iinvl. 

In  this  design  the  black  and  red  have  been  stamped,  wliile  the  yell.'w  and  green  have  been  pnt  in 
by  hand.  Ten  different  blocks  have  been  used,  separate  impressions  ..i  nine  of  wliich  are  shown  on 
Plates  III  and  IV.  That  used  for  band  i  is  shown  in  Fig.  5.  Plate  1\':  thi>se  for  bands  j  and  4  in  Figs. 
I  and  2,  Plate  III;  for  band  3,  Figs,  i,  2,  and  4,  Plate  IV;  for  band  5.  Figs.  3  and  4.  Plate  III;  and  for 
band  6,  Fig.  3,  Plate  IV.  The  red  dots  of  band  6  were  printed  by  a  narrow  block  which  is  not  shown. 
This  border  is  a  fair  example  of  the  ordinary  work  done  in  cotton  printing,  neither  the  best  nor  the 
worst.     In  most  cases  the  places  where  the  impressions  join  can  be  readily  seen.      |  natural  size. 


BLOCK  PRINTS  FROM  INDIA 
FOR  TEXTILES 


by 
Albert  Buell  Lewis 

Assistant  Curator  of  Melanesian  Ethnology 

24  Plates 


Anthropology  Design  Series  No.  i 


FIELD  MUSEUM  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY 

Chicago 
1924 


Prefatory  Note 


With  this  issue  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History  inaugurates  a  new  series 
of  publications  calculated  to  render  accessible  in  convenient  form  primitive  and 
oriental  designs  from  material  in  the  Museum  collections.  It  is  hoped  that  this 
series  will  render  good  services  to  teachers  and  pupils  of  public,  high,  and  tech- 
nical schools,  as  well  as  to  professional  designers,  craftsmen,  manufacturers,  and 
any  students  interested  in  decorative  art.  The  series  will  mainly  consist  of 
collections  of  designs  accompanied  by  one  or  two  pages  of  explanatory  text, 
but  without  scientific  discussion. 

B.  Laufer, 

Curator  of  Anthropology 


BLOCK  PRINTS  FROM  INDIA  FOR  TEXTILES 

The  use  of  wcxDden  blocks  to  print  or  stamp  designs  on  cloth,  especially 
cotton,  is  still  quite  common  in  India,  though  by  no  means  so  general  as  in 
former  years.  The  designs  used  vary  considerably  from  place  to  place,  but  the 
method  is  much  the  same  ever\nvhere.  The  designs  are  first  drawn  on  paper, 
which  is  pasted  on  blocks  of  wood.  The  wood  is  then  cut  with  a  crude  engraving 
tool  to  the  depth  of  about  one-third  of  an  inch.  Holes  are  often  cut  through  the 
block  to  allow  the  air  to  escape  from  the  cavities  formed  by  cutting  out  the 
design.  This  allows  the  dye  to  penetrate  all  the  parts  without  danger  of  air 
bubbles.  Such  holes  may  be  seen  in  Figs.  1  and  2.  The  wood  used  must  be  firm 
and  fine  grained.  Different  woods  are  used  in  different  parts  of  India.  Teak  and 
ebony,  though  not  the  ones  most  commonly  used,  are  said  to  be  preferred  in 
certain  regions.  The  making  of  these  blocks  is  a  special  industry-.  Occasionally 
iron  wire  i  see  Plate  IX )  or  iron  strips  may  be  set  in  the  block  to  give  the  pattern. 

The  old  native  dyes  have  been  largely  displaced  by  the  aniline  colors,  but 
are  still  used  in  many  places,  especially  since  the  war.  Black,  reds,  and  blues  are 
the  most  common  and  permanent  of  the  colors  used.  The  fabric,  which  must 
first  undergo  special  preparation,  is  laid  on  a  low  bench  on  a  pad  formed  of 
several  thicknesses  of  cloth  (see  Plate  II).  The  printer  squats  in  front  of  this, 
with  the  dye  in  a  pan  or  earthen  vessel  at  his  side.  In  this  vessel  is  a  frame  which 
is  covered  with  one  or  more  thicknesses  of  heavy  cloth  or  blanket  forming  a 
pad  which  becomes  saturated  with  the  color,  and  on  which  the  blocks  are  pressed 
before  stamping.  Besides  being  used  for  applying  the  dye,  blocks  may  be  used 
for  the  mordant,  and,  in  some  places,  especially  southern  India,  wax  or  some 
resist  is  often  stamped  on  the  cloth. 

The  designs  herein  illustrated  are  all  full-sized  impressions  of  blocks  obtained 
by  Dr.  George  A.  Dorsey  at  Ahmadabad  in  the  Bombay  Presidency.  Many  of 
the  blocks  are  old  and  somewhat  imperfect,  but  the  impressions  have  not  been 
retouched.  As  they  were  made  with  ink  instead  of  the  fluid  dye,  the  effect  is  not 
quite  the  same  as  it  would  be  on  cloth,  ^\^lere  it  was  intended  to  print  a  solid 
color,  the  blocks  are  cut  out  and  filled  with  a  fibrous  mass  ( see  Fig.  1)  which  takes 
up  the  fluid  dye  better  than  the  smooth  wood,  but  gives  only  a  stippled  effect 
with  ink  I  as  in  Plates  III,  Fig.  3;  IV,  Fig.  5;  V,  Figs.  1  and  6;  M-VH;  XVHI- 
XX).  The  block  illustrated  in  Fig.  1  has  lost  this  fibrous  filling  from  one 
compartment. 

Borders  sometimes  show  several  colors,  as  in  Plate  I,  but,  as  a  rule,  not  more 
than  two  colors  are  used,  black  and  some  shade  of  red  being  the  most  common. 
Other  colors,  such  as  green  and  yellow,  are  often  put  in  by  hand,  as  in  Plate  I. 


Paired  blocks  for  printing  in  two  colors  are  shown  in  Plates  III,  IV,  VII,  XIX, 
XXIII  and  XXIV.  Many  of  the  others,  such  as  those  on  Plates  VI,  X,  XX, 
etc.,  are  intended  to  be  used  in  combination  with  other  blocks. 

The  finest  and  most  elaborate  of  Indian  colored  cloths  were  hand-painted, 
though  certain  parts,  such  as  the  borders,  might  be  stamped.  Good  illustrations 
of  such  cloths  and  designs  may  be  seen  in  the  colored  plates  of  the  expensive 
work  on  "Calico  Painting  and  Printing  in  the  East  Indies  in  the  Seventeenth 
and  Eighteenth  Centuries,"  by  George  P.  Baker.  The  coarser  cotton  fabrics 
in  common  use  were  either  plain  dyed  or  stamped,  and  this  industry  is  still 
quite  prevalent  throughout  the  country,  though  factory-made  cloth  has  largely 
replaced  the  hand-made.  Saris  or  woman's  cloths,  wall  hangings,  and  covers  for 
cotton  quilts  are  some  of  the  articles  still  colored  in  this  manner. 

Illustrations  of  print  designs  from  other  parts  of  India  may  be  seen  in 
"Cotton  Painting  and  Printing  in  the  Madras  Presidency,"  by  W.  S.  Hadaway, 
and  in  several  numbers  of  the  "Journal  of  Indian  Art,"  especially  Volume  VII. 


I«|l^«»«»« 


This  block  shows  the  same  design  as  Fig.  ,l,  Plate  III,  but 
is  a  different  block  from  the  one  from  which  that  impression 
was  made.  The  holes  at  the  bottom  of  the  cut-out  design  go 
through  to  the  top  of  the  block.  The  design  is  bordered  by  a 
thin  wood  partition,  which  shows  lighter  tlian  the  rest  of  the 
surface.  This  part  of  the  block  has  also  been  hollowed  out,  ex- 
cept for  partitions  every  so  often,  and  a  fibrous  mass  firmly 
packed  into  the  cavities  thus  formed.  One  of  the  cavities  has 
lost  its  packing. 


The  design  on  this  block  is  shown  in  Fig.  i,  Plate  XX.  A 
row  of  holes  has  been  bored  through  the  block  from  end  to  end, 
and  another  from  side  to  side,  and  into  these  the  small  holes 
from  the  cut-out  design  open.  The  depth  to  which  the  design 
is  cut  is  clearly  shown  on  the  side.  The  handle  is  part  of  the 
same  piece  of  wood,  as  is  usually  the  case,  though  occasionally 
it  is  cut  out  of  a  separate  piece  and  pegged  on. 


FIELD  MUSEUM  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


ANTHROPOLOGY,    DESIGN   SERIES  NO.    1.    PLATE   II. 


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7^-^«^r« — ^r^ 


A  COTTON  PRINTER  AT  WORK. 
(From  the  Journal  of  Indian  An.  Vol,  II.  No.  23.  PL  6.) 

On  the  ledge  behind  are  shown  two  large  blocks  and  several  smaller  ones. 


FIELD  MUSEUM  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.    DESIGN   SERIES  NO.    1,    PLATE 


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BLOCK  PRINTS  FROM  INDIA- 
Fig.  I  is  tlie  red  and  Fig.  2  the  blacl<  design  of  band  5.  Plate  I;  Fij 


BORDER  DESIGNS. 

;.  ,!  is  the  red  and  Fig.  4  the  black  of  bands  2  and  4.  Plate  I. 


FIELD   MUSEUM   OF   NATURAL   HISTORY. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.    DESIGN   SERIES  NO. 


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BLOCK  PRINTS  FROM  INDIA-BORDER  DESIGNS. 


Figs.  I,  2,  and  4  are  seen  in  band  ,;.  Plate  I.  Fig.  i  being  the  black  and  Figs.  2  and  4  the  red.  The  color  used  for  Fig.  4 
is  a  darker  red  than  that  used  for  Fig.  2.   Fig.  3  is  band  6,  Fig.  5  band  i,  Fig.  6  is  a  separate  design. 


FIELD    MUSEUM    OF    NATURAL    HISTORY. 


ANTHROPOLOGY,    DESIGN    SERIES    NO.   1,    PLATE  V. 


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BLOCK  PRINTS  FROM  INDIA-BORDER  DESIGNS. 

these  were  intended  to  be  used  with  other  blocks  in  a  two  or  more  color  design.  Figs,  i  and  2  show  single 
of  the  blocks,  that  from  which  Fig.  2  was  taken  being  somewhat  broken  at  the  ends.  In  Fig.  3  one  end 
4  both  ends  of  the  impression  have  been  cut  off.    Figs.  5  and  6  show  one  impression  of  the  block  and  a  portion 


impressions 
and  in  Fjg. 
of  a  second. 


FIELD    MUSEUM    OF    NATURAL    HISTORY. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.    DESIGN    SERIES    NO.   1,    PLATE  VI. 


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BLOCK  PRINTS  FROM   INDiA-BORDER  DESIGN. 

This  shows  two  impressions  of  the  block.  With  the  fluid  dyes,  the  line  of  jinicture  would  not 
show  extra  heavy  as  it  does  with  ink.   Other  blocks  and  colors  would  also  be  used  with  this  design. 


FIELD  MUSEUM  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


ANTHROPOLOGY,    DESIGN   SERIES  NO.    1,    PLATE  VII 


BLOCK  PRINTS  FROM  INDIA— BORDER   DESIGN. 

This  shows  the  impression  of  two  blocks.  The  one  above  would  be  printed  in  black  and  the  larger  one  probably  in 
red.  The  block  that  should  go  with  these  for  the  foliage  is  unfortunately  missing.  Other  colors  might  also  be  added, 
either  bv  block  or  by  hand,  as  in  Plate  I. 


FIELD  MUSEUM    OF    NATURAL    HISTORY. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.    DESIGN    SERIES    NO.    1.    PLATE   VIII 


BLOCK  PRINTS  FROM  INDIA-ALL-OVER   DESIGNS. 


Single  impressions  of  two  blocks.     Another  block,  printing  a  different  color,  should  go  with  Fig. 
giving  a  diagonal  striped  effect. 


FIELD    MUSEUM    OF    NATURAL    HISTORY.  ANTHROPOLOGY,    DESIGN    SERIES    NO.   1,    PLATE  IX. 


BLOCK  PRINTS  FROM  INDIA-BORDER  DESIGNS. 
In  these  blocks  the  design  is  formed  by  short  pieces  of  heavy  iron  wire  set  on  end  in  the  wooden  block. 


FIELD    MUSEUM    OF    NATURAL    HISTORY, 


ANTHROPOLOGY,    DESIGN    SERIES    NO.    1,    PLATE  X. 


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BLOCK   PRINTS   FROM    INDIA-FLORAL   DESIGNS. 
All  these  would  be  used  with  supplementary  blocks  for  other  colors. 


FIELD    MUSEUM    OF   NATURAL    HISTORY. 


ANTHROPOLOGY,    DESIGN    SERIES    NO.   1,    PLATE   XI. 


BLOCK   PRINTS   FROM   INDIA-ALL-OVER   DESIGN. 

Fig.  la  shows  a  single  impression  of  the  block,  slightly  separated  from  Fig.  i  above,  which 
gives  four  impressions.    Fig.  2  is  a  small  unit  probably  used  to  fill  in  a  larger  design. 


FIELD    MUSEUM  OF   NATURAL    HISTORY. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.    DESIGN    SERIES    NO.   1.    PLATE    XII. 


BLOCK   PRINTS   FROM    INQIA-ALLOVER   DESIGNS. 
Fig.  I  is  a  single  impression  ot  the  block.   Fig.  2  shows  three  impressions  of  a  small  block. 


FIELD    MUSEUM    OF  NATURAL    HISTORY. 


ANTHROPOLOGY,    DESIGN     SERIES    NO.    1,    PLATE  XIII. 


BLOCK   PRINTS   FROM    INDIA-ALL-OVER   DESIGNS. 
Fig.  I  is  a  single  impression  of  the  block;  Fig.  2,  a  double  impression. 


FIELD    MUSEUM    OF    NATURAL    HISTORY. 


ANTHROPOLOGY,    DESIGN    SERIES    NO.   1,    PLATE    Xl> 


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BLOCK  PRINTS  FROM   INDIA-ALL-OVER  DESIGNS. 
In  Figs.  I.  .!,  ami  4  only  a  portion  of  the  impression  is  shown. 


FIELD    MUSEUM    OF    NATURAL    HISTORY. 


ANTHROPOLOGY,    DESIGN    SERIES    NO.    1,    PLATE  XV. 


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BLOCK  PRINTS  FROM  INDIA-ALL-OVER  DESIGNS. 


FIELD    MUSEUM    OF    NATURAL    HISTORY. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.    DESIGN    SERIES    NO.   1.    PLATE  XVI. 


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BLOCK  PRINTS  FROM   INDIA-ALL-OVER  DESIGNS. 


FIELD,  MUSEUM    OF    NATURAL    HISTORY. 


ANTHROPOLOGY,    DESIGN    SERIES    NO.    1,    PLATE  XVII. 


BLOCK  PRINTS  FROM  INDIA-SPECIAL  DESIGNS, 
■"ig.  I  is  a  centerpiece,  formed  by  four  impressions  of  the  block. 


FIELD    MUSEUM    OF    NATURAL    HISTORY. 


ANTHROPOLOGY,     DESIGN    SERIES    NO.   1,    PLATE  XVIII 


BLOCK  PRINTS  FROM  INDIA-SPECIAL  DESIGNS. 
Fig.  I  is  a  single  impression  of  a  block  which  would  be  used  to  form  a  circular  design  similar  to  Fig.  i,  Plate  XV'Il. 


FIELD    MUSEUM    OF    NATURAL    HISTORY. 


ANTHROPOLOGY,    DESIGN    SERIES    NO.     1,    PLATE    XIX. 


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BLOCK  PRINTS  FROM  INDIA-ALL-OVER  DESIGNS. 

iMgs.  I  and  3  go  together  the  same  as  Figs.  3  and  4  of  Plate  III. 


FIELD    MUSEUM    OF    NATURAL    HISTORY. 


ANTHROPOLOGY,    DESIGN    SERIES    NO.    1,    PLATE  XX. 


BLOCK  PRINTS  FROM  INDIA-ALL-OVER  DESIGNS. 


FIELD    MUSEUM    OF    NATURAL    HISTORY. 


ANTHROPOLOGY,     DESIGN    SERIES    NO.   1.    PLATE  XXI. 


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BLOCK  PRINTS  FROM  INDIA-ALL-OVER  DESIGNS. 
Except  Fig.  2,  these  show  only  a  portion  of  the  whole  block. 


FIELD    MUSEUM    OF    NATURAL    HISTORY. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.    DESIGN    SERIES    NO.   1.    PLATE  XXII 


BLOCK  PRINTS  FROM  INDIA-ALL-OVER  DESIGNS. 
Only  a  portion  of  each  block  is  shown. 


FIELD    MUSEUM    OF    NATURAL    HISTORY. 


i^  -a 


ANTHROPOLOGY,    DESIGN    SERIES    NO.   1.     PLATE  XXIII, 


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BLOCK  PRINTS  FROM  INDIA-SPECIAL  DESIGNS. 
Figs.  I  a  and  lb  go  together  as  in  Fig.  3.  Plate  XX1\' 


FIELD    MUSEUM    OF    NATURAL    HISTORY. 


ANTHROPOLOGY,    DESIGN    SERIES    NO.   1.    PLATE  XXIV. 


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BLOCK  PRINTS  FROM  INDIA— TWO-COLOR  DESIGNS. 

While  the  colors  used  for  these  designs  may  vary,  the  fine-cut  designs  with  narrow  lines  are  usually  printed 
in  black,  and  the  heavier  masses  in  red.  The  lack  of  perfect  registration  of  the  two  colors  is  in  the  original 
blocks,  and  the  agreement  is  at  least  as  close  as  in  ordinary  cotton  printing. 


